Israeli officials are reportedly trying to get Gen. Mark Milley
Mark MilleyOvernight Defense: Congress Schedules Session to Override Possible Trump Vote Miller takes unannounced trip to Afghanistan Acting Pentagon chief makes unannounced trip to Afghanistan amid setbacks. Night Defense: US Top General Meets Taliban | House panel launches cyber attack investigation | Leger to issue face masks for soldiers in 2021 MORE, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to convey sensitive messages to the incoming Biden government regarding Iran and other regional developments.
An Israeli official told Axios that Jerusalem wanted to voice concern about negotiations with Iran and urged Biden to use the Trump administration’s sanctions as “leverage” to get a better nuclear deal with Tehran.
The official said the Israelis view Milley as someone who “will still be in the chamber when Biden takes office and play a substantive role in any policy review that will take place.”
The US’s top military chief was in Israel last week at the end of a whirlwind trip to the Middle East, where he held meetings in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates.
In Israel he met the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu MORE, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Israel’s chief military commander, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi.
Elected president Joe Biden
Joe BidenNewsom Cites Shirley Weber to Serve as California Secretary of State The White House wishes Birx the best after she announces retirement Karl Rove tears in Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell on election claims MORE has said he would re-involve the US in the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump struck in 2018, provided Iran returns to compliance with the pact.
Biden has also said he is trying to negotiate a more comprehensive, longer-term deal to address concerns such as Iran’s conventional weapons program and the funding of proxy forces across the Middle East.
Israeli officials also reportedly want to maintain momentum for normalization deals between Israel and Arab and Muslim-majority countries negotiated by the Trump administration, distinguishing between concerns about human rights abuses in those countries and efforts to build alliances in the Middle East. East to strengthen.
“We think it’s important that the next administration will maintain the momentum of the normalization process … So we hope the new administration will look at the complexity and not burn down the bridges with those countries,” an Israeli official told Axios. .
The incoming Biden government reportedly postponed substantive communication with foreign countries ahead of the inauguration in an attempt to avoid criticism of foreign governments’ influence before taking office.
Still, Biden spoke to Netanyahu last month. In the telephone conversation, the Israeli Prime Minister congratulated the President-elect on his victory. Biden, meanwhile, reiterated his support for Israel’s security and that he expects to work closely together to “address the many challenges our countries are facing”.
Tensions between Israel, the US and Iran are high over the recent assassination of a top Iranian scientist, who Tehran has blamed on Israel, and the upcoming one-year anniversary of the US assassination of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone attack. .
There is also uncertainty in Israel as the country heads to the national elections in March, the country’s fourth election in two years.
The Trump administration has continued its campaign of “maximum pressure” of sanctions for human rights violations in its last weeks, targeting Iranian industries such as oil, shipping and banking.